The present invention relates generally to earth working equipment and, more specifically, to earth excavating and compacting apparatus. In particular, the present invention is directed to apparatus wherein a compacting roller, such as sheep's foot roller, may be expeditiously mounted or removed from the conventional bucket and boom assembly of such earth moving equipment.
Several prior art apparatus have been developed which allow the use of either an excavating bucket or a compacting roller on a single boom. Although such apparatus have met with some success, they have failed to be completely satisfactory. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,342 discloses an arrangement wherein the excavating bucket must be removed from the backhoe in order to mount the compacting roller. This is a time consuming operation, and is especially undesirable in situations wherein both the bucket and roller are to be used repeatedly during a single excavation project. U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,411 discloses a similar apparatus wherein the compacting roller is mounted directly onto the back of the excavating bucket. This arrangement requires that the bucket be modified to some extent. In addition, mounting of the roller requires accurate alignment of the bucket and roller which may be difficult in many instances.